'This is an excellent book by two of the world's leading public management scholars. They integrate their own research with leading-edge work by others in the field, and provide important new insights into the impact of public management on organizational performance. Both academics and policy makers will find the book essential reading for understanding contemporary problems such as networking, managerial quality, and personnel stability in public organizations.' George Boyne, Dean and Professor of Public Sector Management, Cardiff Business School 'This is a must-read book for public management scholars and policy designers across the globe. The authors make the most of simplicity in their formal modeling and use of large-N longitudinal data sets to carefully explicate what managers do to affect performance - and it turns out managers can make quite a significant positive difference. The book is a stunning intellectual achievement and the fact that it is clearly and accessibly written makes it even more impressive.' John M. Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations 'Building on more than a decade of state-of-the-art research, O'Toole and Meier's new book sets high standards for the evidence-based study of public management. Providing a highly accessible, yet deep and profound understanding of the complex relation between management and performance, this work is exceptionally valuable for scholars, students, and practitioners in the field.' Rene Torenvlied, Professor of Sociology, University of Groningen and Utrecht University